Batman Channels Dick Cheney in the Latest Batman v Superman Teaser

These days, the phrase “one percent” usually pertains to financial reform as opposed to wars overseas, but those of you who remember foreign policy debates from over a decade ago will find that Batman’s new dialogue in the latest Batman v Superman TV spot rings a bell. Here’s what Batfleck had to say:

“Count the dead: thousands of people. What’s next? Millions? He has the power to wipe out the entire human race, and if we believe there’s even a one percent chance that he is our enemy, we have to take it as an absolute certainty.”

And here’s Dick Cheney on how he thought the US should approach terrorism threats in the early aughts, later dubbed The One Percent Doctrine:

If there’s a 1% chance that Pakistani scientists are helping al-Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response.

I have already been wondering how Batman v Superman was going to manage to make Batman less sympathetic; in Man of Steel, we saw Superman’s fight with Zod resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent bystanders, so it’s hard to feel sympathetic for him going into this movie. I guess making Batman quote Dick Cheney is a good way to make him seem like he’s overreacting. But I’m not sure the analogy really works, given that Superman definitely did seem negligent in Man of Steel. On the other hand, I’m okay with making Batman v Superman‘s central fight seem like it’s more about posturing and egotism than safety.

The other TV spot shows us a little more of Superman’s side:

“This Bat vigilante is like a one-man reign of terror,” according to Clark Kent. Pretty bold words from a guy who’s also a one-man reign of terror in his private life!